hundred deputies; tho first tribune of boxes 
and cages beyond to the diplomacies end State 
and foreign officials; andtho second row alone 
is for spectators end the press. At half-past 
two the noise begins—for it is scarcely more 
than e noise. Seven hundred men all talking 
at once, gesticulat ing, attitudinising, and mov¬ 
ing about, form a most distracting scone. The 
Assemble!' chooses e President every throe 
months. The deputies receive a salary of #2,!)00 
per annum. They do not have a franking privi¬ 
lege. The present President, Jules Grew, Is 
a fine-looking man; a fair type of a blonde, sc¬ 
our foot to see if our boots were clean. Tic him¬ 
self had on a spotless white apron, a snowy nap¬ 
kin in one hand, soft slippers on Ills feet, and 
as ho entered the sacred chamber, he slipped a 
piece of tapestry under each <>f his feet and slid 
along over the waxed and polished floor as 
noiselessly as a fish through water. With ids 
napkin he opened the carriage doors, and In 
subdued tones gave us the history of each. All 
around in glass eases hung tho royal harnesses, 
morocco fixtures mounted in gold. One of the 
carriages—the one, I think, In which Napoleon 
ITT, rode on his wedding day, and which carried 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER 
Tin' Wandering Heir. By Charles Ueadk. 
Boston: James H. Osgood ,v Co. 
From the advance sheets f ids house has made 
a handsome little volume of Charles Reade’S 
latest romance. It Is a. thrilling historical tale 
of Irish life In the last century, and as it Is short, 
and sells for one dollar, it 
will doubtless become wide¬ 
ly popular. 
A Day at Versailles. 
Pauls, Doe. 24, 1873. 
King Louis, the Fourteenth, grew tired of 
his royal residence at St. Germain one day, and 
enjoying tho delightful freedom of command¬ 
ing a mint of money, concluded to build him a 
new palace at Versailles, a 
famed hunting station. Buy¬ 
ing a section of land sixty 
miles iu circumference, ho 
employed the best artists and 
artisans of ills time to carry 
out his scheme. The moneys 
expended by him amounted 
to something over two hun¬ 
dred millions of dollars, and 
as much more, perhaps, was 
expended upon it by succeed¬ 
ing monarch*. 
It is an hour’s ride from 
Paris, which tho French call 
the “ hoad of France,” and is /. 
of all Its environs probably 
tho most interesting and do- /|| 
llghtful. It cannot now bo /p|| 
called a thriving city, as Its /f ill! 
population lots dwindled 
from 100,000 to 30,000. Being 
now the seat of the French ni|||||l| 
Assembly adds to It a poltti- ^|||||||| 
cal Interest, but it has no 
need of the life of to-day to 
make It a moat attractive /:|||||||||| 
spot. The Palace, which com- 
prises also the Museum, is 
not imposing. One portion 
of the building forms the 
theater of tho Assembleo Na- 
tlonalo; and another, the 111111111111 
Science of Hollglou, with pa¬ 
pers oil Build hTsn> tty Prof. 
MlTLLER. New y CUas. 
Scribner & Co. 
A work of more than usu¬ 
al interest, by a learned and 
well-known writ er. None of 
us can learn too much about 
tho religions of other people, 
and In this work the subject 
of Buddhist nihilism is ex¬ 
plained, while I here is a 
translation of the famous 
“ Path of Virtue. " The book 
contains four lectures on tho 
science of religion, and will 
commend Itself to all think¬ 
ing people. It makes a vol¬ 
ume of 300 pages. 
Dinniond I From Uio 
lives of the Biniond faintly. 
By N. 8. it. Beal, Maoedon, 
A strange sort of a book, 
half story and half history, 
by a gentleman who nails 
himself an old bachelor, and 
boasts that he had not boon 
caught in the matrimonial 
trap. The “ leaves ” will, 
doubtless, have interest for 
people living In tho vicinity 
of Lima, N. Y. Tho volume In 
a handsome ono of 384 pages. 
are words, *' A toutca If* gU)- 
run <ic la France,” (to all tho llSllllliS 
glories of France,) a most lit- 
ting inscription ; and as tho 
glories of Franco seem to 
partake largely of war and ^1|||||||1|| 
Intrigue and assassination, 
tho pictures are scenes on 
battle Helds, and the statues «§||||i 
those of soldiers. A guide \§§||j||| 
attaches himself to your ser- 
vice, and in each apartment \|||||| 
rattles off a small speech to \ij|| 
tho effect that in t his room \y|| 
such-and-such a king or ^ 
queen ate, or bathed, or suf- > 
forod decapitation; that this 
is tho same furniture; and 
lifting tho linen or dainty 
covers, displays tho gilded 
satin or gorgeously-wrought 
tapestry of the royal uphol¬ 
stery- 
It is not alonu at Vcrsallles, 
but elsewhere, that one real¬ 
izes, as never before, tho im- 
press made and loft on 
France by Marie Antoin¬ 
ette. In going through the 
Parks you are pointed out 
the trees she planted, tho 
bridges and cottages sbo built; tho little dairy 
where she went for milk and butter; lior pavil¬ 
ions and boudoirs; tho places whore she used 
to sit and read, or play with her children. In 
ono of her salons is a sofa on which she used to 
repose, the mirrors above and about which are 
so arranged in la calculus, that upon looking at 
yourself at a certain angle you see yourself, en¬ 
tire in perfect proportions, except your head. 
The person standing by your aide, or behind you, 
sees you as you really are, with your head on; 
but you see yourself decapitated. Tho sensa¬ 
tion of seeing yourself headless is a very queer 
The Yellow Flag. — By 
Romi NO Yates. Boston: 
James K. Oagooil & Co. Price, 
$1.25. 
Mn. Yates Is well-known 
in this country as a writer 
and lecturer. Ills works have 
long been popular, and this 
bids fair to sustain his repu¬ 
tation. 
The gltory oflhe Great Fire. 
By *• Carletoa.” Boston: 
Shepard & Gill. 
A SMALL book, of 32 pages, 
tolling tho story of tho burn¬ 
ing of Boston In a graphic 
manner. The book has eight 
illustrations by Billings, 
taken on the Bp t. 
Tlic Wind aw Gardener.— 
By Edward Sprague 
Rand, Jr. Boston: Shep¬ 
ard A Util. 1872 . 
Tnis is a. handsome littio 
volume of 127 pages, made up 
by using 109 page* of tho au¬ 
thor’s ” Flowers for the Par¬ 
lor and Garden," Issued in 
1803. The author appears to 
have given up his old habit 
of copying foreign works 
without credit, and now starts out on another 
lino and republishes his own works, giving them 
new titles. Mr. Rand’s operations in book 
making in former years wore jo reckless that 
we should not bo surprised if the New Testa¬ 
ment, came to our table with Ids naino upon the 
title page as author. An International copy¬ 
right law would have boon a great blow to this 
gentleman’s fame a* an author. 
rone Englishman, not at all Frencny In his look 
or manner. After tho session is fairly opened, 
there is a constant succession of speech-making 
and voting. Tho speech-maker ascends a desk 
which fronts the deputies, and unless lie bo 
ono of tho ministers or very distinguished inem- 
bors, he cannot be heard for the noise. Tho 
President strikes the bell, and a general shooh- 
ing goes through the house, but there is no 
abatement in the tumult. It is Bubrl incarnate. 
Perhaps tho most widely known deputy is Oam- 
betta, tho leader ot tho Radicals. lie Is a 
coarse, gross, common looking fellow, with full 
black hair and beard, and with one eye out. 
The manner In which ho lost his eye may bo 
new to most readers; I heard It from a private 
source, and my informant declares it to be true: 
When Gambetta was a boy and in school, he bo 
wearied of it I hat on Monday he wrote to his 
father:—’* t iiless you come and take me away 
from this place, I will send you on Saturday, in 
a letter, my right eye.” His father did hot heed 
the threat, and on Saturday tho young Gam¬ 
betta gouged out his right eye and sent it! with 
the additional information that unless his father 
came for him lie would, on the following Satur¬ 
day, send him hi* left eye. It need hardly he 
added that tho father came ir the story be 
true, it is certainly an illustration, incompara¬ 
ble, of combined bravery and absurdity. Oam- 
betta i* a young man of thirty-Uve years, and 
first brought himself Into notoriety by a speech 
he made at tho grav© of Bait din, an ancient 
representative, In the cemetery of Montmartre, 
He la courageous, bold and shrewd, and un¬ 
principled. He has no moral character ,(> speak 
of, and to detail ids immorality would be useless. 
Among the scores of men in tho French As¬ 
sembly who resemble our public men at home, 
is Edward dk Presseusr, tho well known 
preacher and historian, and who resemble-' in a 
marked degree the Into Horace Greeley. He 
1 b decorated with the Legion of Honor, and 
preaches In Paris on Sunday. II© Is a Protes¬ 
tant. 
There Is one characteristic of the French Con¬ 
gress I very much like Hie brevity and pithi¬ 
ness of t he speeches. I doubt if a long speech, 
unless very remarkable, would be tolerated. 
Every one speak© clearly conclusively, anil to 
tho point. There is no circumlocution and 
wasting of simply line phrases, a. a e. w. 
tho Princo Imperial to baptism, cost $200,000. 
It was built for the coronation of Charles XII. 
Versailles Is the nearest being a fairy land of J 
any place I have yet Been, Its walks and bodges, 
its statues, fountains and trees, and tho almost 
bou nil less extent of its magnificence are almost 
Incredible. Like all the foolish people in tho 
world I “ did” Versailles mostly in one day, and 
was ill for days after from the fatigue. 1 pray 
all who have not yet committed the similar 
folly of trying to swallow Versailles at one dose, 
to take warning by my experience and devote a 
full week to its wonderful attractions. 
American Youth Abroad. 
In traveling, and stopping at hotels, one Is 
very apt to meet young men, students, who 
have been sent, abroad by their parents or guar¬ 
dians to “ finish.” I think nothing nan be more 
disastrous, especially If tho boy lie furnished 
with plenty of money. Tho danger that may 
befall him does not so often come from the 
demimonde ot Paris as from unprincipled wo¬ 
men of, perhaps, his own country. 1 would 
soouer see a brother, with habits and principles 
unformed, laid away under the sod, t han sent 
off t.o France or Germany alone, to seo the 
world. There are, undoubtedly, a groat many 
things In Ufa which it is essential for a young 
man to know; but it makes all the difference In 
the world how he learns thorn The more I see 
ami learn of life, tho more I am impressed with 
tho superlative value of a clean heart, over and 
above all the external at tractions of cultivated 
and elegant manners. 1 have been twice at 
The Asaemblee National© The French 
Congress. 
The sessions, thus far, have been of a very 
stormy character, and the unsettled condition 
of politics lias its effect upon all commercial 
transactions. The theater in which the Assem- 
blee holds its sessions la very small, so that to 
obtain admission at a period when the demand 
is unprecedented, is very difficult. The floor of 
tho theater is entirely occupied by the seven 
Modem Genders. By JUSTIN MCCARTHY. New 
York . Sheldon & Company. 
Mr. McCarthy’s stylo as a writer is well 
known to tho reading public. lie is never dull 
and is usually fair In his statements. The con¬ 
tents of tills book is made up of sketches of 
people contributed to The Galaxy magazine. 
They embrace biographical notice.-, of Victoria, 
Louis Napoleon, Eugenic, tho Pince of Wales, 
tlio King of Prussia, the King Of Italy, Presi¬ 
dent Thiers, Prince Napoleon, the Duke of 
Cambridge, Brigham Young, Geo. Eliot, Geo. 
Sand, Lord Lytton, Archbishop Manning, John 
Ruslcin, Charles Rcadc, Mr. Fronde, and other 
people. Tho book deserves a wide circulation. 
Clirlstnin* F.vc and Christina* Day.— By Ed¬ 
ward E. hale. Boston • Robert* Brothers. 
This delightful and handsome little volume 
contains ton stories from the famous and facile 
pen of Mr. llxf.r., who always writes In an en¬ 
tertaining manner. Some of the stories havo 
been published before, but tho lir-t ono i3 new, 
as well as an essay on Christmas. Wo look ppon 
this as ono of the most entertaining volumes for 
tho season yet Issued. 
Mrs. Skagas’*, Husbands, and Other Sketches. 
—By Bret Haute. Boston .luincs It. Osgood & Co. 
The short, readable story which gives the title 
to this volume is a new and characteristic sketch 
from one of our best story tellers. I’he rest of 
the volume Is composed of a large number of 
sketches, some of which are now while others 
have been published. 
